Begining of misunderstanding
by Gigaswoo
Summary: Set before "Coincidence and misunderstanding" by Silently Watches. (Don't worry guys I got the go ahead.) As relations within the team begin to fall apart Raven is left to her self. Something that she always wanted but not with three of her team mates beginning to aggravate her to no end. Not when there's some magical artifacts with great power in normal human hands.
1. Chapter 1: Strained Relations

For a time maybe there really was a point when I genuinely cared for my teammates and believed in Robin's words of justice and the good fight. Starfire and I used to be close friends, Beast Boy used to be a well-meaning clown as annoying as he is now I don't know what he's turning into and Robin is becoming less of a drill sergeant and more of a general hammer.

Cyborg was the only one who went in a progressive direction while the others went the opposite way. I still remember when he offered to walk in Jump City Park with me when he noticed that I was starting to barely take the ever changing personalities of the other three.

"_Beast Boy, for the last time NO!"_

Robin was arguing with Beast Boy again. Ever since his fan base has grown to insane heights and is still going strong he actually believed in the words his fans had for him.

"_Greatest hero ever!" _or _"The new Flash!" _or even _"Beast Boy, marry me please!"_

It got to the point where anyone new to the Titans (We took the Teen out when Robin decided we were officially grown ups and yes, he did say grown ups, while I disagreed.) would believe that Beast Boy was actually the leader and some people did make that mistake in the past which infuriated Robin greatly and he made it known to us. I can understand Beast Boy but why do we have to hear about it?

"_Dude, it's not my fault they love the green maestro!" _He pointed both thumbs to himself while flashing one of his trademark fanged grins. I rolled my eyes as usual. They were actually starting to hurt because doing that became a habit around him for the past year. While me and Robin had our ever increasing disagreements and arguments this was something we both agreed on. Beast Boy was making us both want to tear our hair out.

"_You are not going to pose for Gentleman's magazine in Speedos! What kind of message do you think that sends to the public? We are a crime fighting team not a product!"_

Cracks were beginning to appear in the team's mask of a team that would risk their lives for each other and the city. The image we used to have of being a perfect team. And the media began to notice.

Just type "_Teen Titans" _on any search engine (The fact that they still called us Teen Titans just riles Robin up even further.) and you'll see all the newspaper articles and forums that have doubts on our continued existence as a group. The mayor tried to address the issue by holding a press conference and saying that there was no issue within the team and that we would still be around to protect the city if such a thing were to happen. This did not convince them evidently. He probably shouldn't have said _"If such a thing were to happen." _Everything positive about us back in the early days were all buried so deep in the internet archives you'd have to skip over about 500 pages to look them up. Or just type in more generally positive key words.

So here we were. Shadows of our former selves and two team members fighting each other over one such team member's bad decision. I was just lying on the couch with my boot clad feet hanging over the arm and reading a book of astral projection spells. I had my hood up hoping they would be too distracted with each other to notice me. Robin has been taking issue with me lately and while Beast Boy and Starfire barely interacted with me (Unless Beast Boy tried to hit on me and Starfire tried to drag me along for any _"Friendship activities" _that she arranged for the rest of the group.) but being an empathy I can tell that they feel more uncomfortable with me now than they did before. While Beast Boy just felt awkward and nervous about me I actually felt hints of _anger _from Starfire. What her issue with me is I have no clue but sometimes I feel like she glares at me while I never seen her actually do it myself. I noticed in the past few months she avoided me like the plague unless she had a _"fun" _(Translation: Not my idea of fun.) activity for us. I think her trying to get the whole team of five to do something together is more about compulsion now.

"_Dude, if all those girls out there look at me the way they do and only me how long until Starfire gets bored? There's enough of me for everyone."_

I immediately darted my eyes up to look at a triumphant Beast Boy and a red fuming Robin. He seriously did not just say that did he?

"_Get out and don't come back until you think about your place on this team. As for the Speedos? Go ahead and make a fool of yourself while I actually try to dig ourselves back up from the ground!"_

Beast Boy scoffed and seemed to get into a preparation stance. _"Whatever, but don't forget who's actually keeping us on the radar."_

And at that he transformed into an eagle and flew out of an open window behind the flat screen screeching as he left by flying up the window and disappearing.

Robin muttered angrily to himself as he stomped to me and stared me down. Now what does he want?

"_Unless you have come here to ask me about my powers or how I make my tea then I can't help you." _He then spoke in an authoritave voice as if he thought I was trying to get away with something.

"_Don't think I've forgotten about you, Raven. You're another one who's becoming to be a pain in my ass."_

I dropped my book and stared intently into his masked eyes as he stared down at me with his arms crossed. _Who in Azar does he think he is?_

"_What oh mighty leader could I have possibly done?" _I spoke in my best innocent child voice I could muster just to spite him.

I sure did as he spoke with a sharp edge of venom in his voice. _"I'll tell you what: Your powers, your image, your appearance, your interest in the occult and the dark magic and most especially your demon heritage and your shadow form. It scares people. While Beast Boy is number one in our problems right now and you're number two I'm not one to prioritize."_

What on Earth does he want from me?

"_So you're kicking me out?"_

He then shook his head as he still somehow kept the above mentioned venom in his tone.

"_No, I want you to tone it down. Like I want Beast Boy to do." _

"_With very little success."_

He turned even redder than before as he deeply clenched his fists. _"Well oh mighty dark mistress. Much to your pleasure I might have to throw him out if he goes on like this. But don't forget I'll do the same to you much sooner if you speak to me with a sharp tongue again. I can easily get Argent to be your replacement. At least she's a Goth with a warm heart."_

At that he left and I felt his anger surge to almost matching the anger he felt when Slade was involved. While Robin's personality is the way it is due to him being a natural leader. The new Robin I heard is much more cheerful.

I can tell you why he's so angry in so many ways because it's not just Beast Boy, me or the third robin. It's everything else.

Slade is still out there, he still can't forget a personal tragedy in his life, (I once accidentally saw into his memories when I tried to read his mind to check if he really did tell the truth about Red X's return. I saw two people that seemed to be falling down and a terrifying image of a clown holding a bloodied crowbar.) he has to deal with the famous Titan rogues gallery still and even some of the more pathetic villains were giving us a hard time due to us not working together as much as we should and Beast Boy barely sowing up and Batman is something that still aggravates him and he's far too stubborn to call upon his help or even his advice when we are clearly in shambles.

But I felt that the problem was also sexual. I felt it with Starfire too. It's not that he's impotent because from what Starfire told me when we were on better terms he more than provided but now that he ahs so much on his plate he simply feels that he doesn't not have the time for it. When it comes to emotions he's like a sponge. He takes every little thing personally and sexual energy is one of the most powerful forces to human kind. I tried to tell him that he should spend time with Starfire to take the tension off but of course that was after he had yet another conflict with beast Boy and he basically just blanked me and walked off. I could have simply told him to meditate on that energy instead but I knew he would not have the patience for that.

I couldn't take this anymore. I need some tea, meditation and a friendly chat with Cyborg when he isn't busy.


	2. Chapter 2: Cleaning Up

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarth Metrion Zinthos."_

_Sigh, that's another 15 minutes done with. I slowly opened my eyes and got off the floor eyeing the kitchen. The green tea was the second favourite when it came to relaxing me, meditation being the first of course._

_But after Robin's lecture and Beast Boy's bickering I needed both. Probably two cups for the both of them._

_I opened the cabinet searching it for that distinctive black box. I'm kind of glad that Beast Boy stopped hiding them as a prank now that he was more concerned with himself than me. After looking through the regular toppings, jars and occasional Starfire oddities I finally found the dark object hiding in a corner behind the clutter. I finally learned how to relate to objects._

_Carefully reaching out to grab it while trying to go over the rest. I just about prodded it . Almost got it._

"_Yo."_

_The sound of my stunned gasp and the crash of falling glass hit the floor. Some of it shattered and the Starfire leftovers actually ate through the floor like a very strong acid._

"_Oh crap! Sorry I wasn't paying attention!"_

_I bent down to look through the pile when I looked up to see the familiar face of Cyborg with an apologetic look that seemed to be crossed with anxiety. I didn't let him see the smile I had because I knew it was the accident he was anxious about, not me._

"_It's ok Cyborg, we had to clean up after Cinderblock and Plasmus and the rest remember?"_

_He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he cringed. "Yeah but I'd rather tangle with Plasmus than touch whatever that goop is there. I know its Starfire's because she tried to get me and the other two guys to eat it last night."_

_That's funny, she never invited me. I quickly rubbed my head of the thought and tried to focus on the mess. I could feel that Cyborg noticed but he decided not to press it._

_Cyborg noticed the damage the goop left and sighed to himself as he pressed some buttons on his arm. It suddenly transformed into a spoon looking thing as he carefully scooped it up into it. "That's some more of Starfire's recipes come to life I have to clean up. Nobody else except her, Silkie or me can touch the stuff. Well consume it in their cases."_

_I pondered something while he kept repeating "Yuk" and "Gross" while I cleaned up the things I could take care of with the nearby dust pan and brush. I eventually decided to just use my telekinesis on them to sweep the mess up and hovered them over the bin. Deciding to gather my courage I decided to ask him what I always wondered about Starfire._

"_Why does she try to force her customs and food delicacies on us?" Cyborg answered while he was carefully emptying the spoon into a test tube he got from a hidden storage in his arm. I could see the rack of test tubes on it as he placed it inside and it quickly shot back into his arm again._

"_Beats me, I think she just wants us to like her for her culture and not just because she's trying to get used to ours. Personally I never really thought much about it because it wasn't a pressing issue to me."_

_He really ahs matured since two years ago. I still remember when he and Beast Boy were thick as thieves now Beast Boy was the one left behind. I barely see them talk to each other now._

_Sometimes I wonder if Beast Boy blames me for that. "How is your doctorate coming along?"_

_He smiled as he put a hand and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. He was in deep thought and seemed somewhat embarrassed by the question._

_He finally opened his mouth to respond. "Uhhh good, Just gotta wait long and keep workin I guess."_

_I raised my eyebrow at his choice of words. He looked sullen as he slumped his shoulders. "Alright, you got me. All of this is confusing me Rae I don't know where I'm coming along or how far I am with this stuff. I can do all the mechanics but the paperwork and the deadlines?"_

_I could sympathise with that. I could feel him shrinking in confidence just mentioning it. Especially in front of someone who's the "Bookworm." Of the team_

"_If you'd like I could help?" His eyes showed the faintest hint of some kind of sorrowful thanks. But I already knew his forthcoming answer._

"_I'm glad you want to help Raven but well rockets, mechanics and engineering? I know you helped me fix the T-Car sometimes but this is serious stuff."_

_Cyborg looked slum as he presumably thought about his doctorate. No disrespect to him but I almost regret wanting to speak to him he was bringing me down more than the others were. _

_He spoke up in a kind of unmonitored thought. "Damn quantum physics, damn advanced mathematics. Why can't I just put the damn engine together?"_

_Despite his aural negativity my compassion somehow looked beyond that and just saw another poor soul who wanted help but couldn't properly express himself. He was like Robin except all the aggressive deniability and anger._

_Deciding that he might accept I took a risk, with Robin it would have been a certainty. "I could help with the mathematics if you want?" Cyborg looked at me with debating eyes. I could feel that he was having an inner conflict with himself. After a moment of me feeling embarrassed for asking he smiled to himself and lightly nodded his head._

"_Yeah sure. These equations and theories are killing me."_

_I gave him a slight nod of agreement before inspecting the now clean kitchen. I decided that the herbal tea could wait. Preferably midnight but I could still use a walk._

"_Thanks Cyborg, I needed that chat." I left the kitchen as he saluted me with a hand wave. "Always welcome."_

_I breathed in relaxation and thought about how the park must look right no in the summer. Not preferable to autumn or winter but I'll find a tree to sit under somewhere. _


End file.
